


There Were Four Sisters

by vamprav



Category: Dogma (1999)
Genre: Deus Ex Machina, Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-26 23:32:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9929726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vamprav/pseuds/vamprav
Summary: Most people don't know this but God is actually four women: Life, Death, Absolution, and Damnation.





	

"You sound like Lucifer." Loki yelled.

"He does, doesn't he?" A voice said from the door to the parking lot's stairwell.

Both angels shivered at the sound of it. It was like the rolling of a wave and a light breeze and bird song all rolled into one sound.

The angels turned to look at the woman standing in the door they'd entered through. She wasn't tall or short, fat or thin. Her height was average and she was curvy but not chubby. Her hair was a light brown and her eyes glowed like sea glass in the sun. She looked to be a little bit older than sixteen which was supported by the ratty band t-shirt and ripped jeans she wore.

They let out a low breath and murmured, "Absolution."

"Hello, Loki, Bartleby," Absolution said with a nod, "What's this I hear about you returning to Heaven as humans? Why would you want to be human?"

The angels startled, shock passing across their faces before they bowed low.

"My Lady of Absolution," Loki began, "Bartleby and I have been absent from Heaven since the Egyptian Plagues. I refused an order from God, quite rudely, because I was drunk and we were... removed from the Heavenly Host."

Absolution huffed in mild irritation. "I still refuse to call my sister that." She muttered to herself. "Tell me. What were her exact words?"

"'For your rudeness you shall be removed from God's Host and banished to Earth. Never again shall you stand  in Heaven. Never again shall you be bound to the Host. Loki, you are hereby stripped of your status and duties. Be gone.'" Loki said, like the words were a folk saying that had been repeated so many times that it had lost all meaning.

Absolution nodded and turned to look at Bartleby, who was staring intently down at his feet. "'For the crime of insighting another angel to rebel you shall be removed from God's Host and banished to Earth. Never again shall you stand in Heaven. Never again shall you be bound to the Host. Bartleby, you are hereby stripped of your status and duty. Be gone.'" The former grigori said robotically.

The girl in front of them huffed and crossed her arms. "Well, that's massively cruel and unnessisary. Then again, when Life lets Damnation decide the punishment, they usually are." She said and hummed, considering something for a minute. "Right, I can work with this."

Loki jumped, jaw dropping, and eyes bugging out. Bartleby just made a sound like a small, wounded, baby animal. They hadn't expected anyone as powerful as Absolution to ever consider helping them, not after being kicked out of the Host.

Loki tried to shrink in on himself as Absolution glided towards the two angels, scared for the first time in a long time. He didn't quite know why, it probably had something to do with the fact that he hadn't stood before any of God's aspects in well over two thousand years.

Absolution stopped right in front of him and reached out with one hand. Loki squeezed his eyes shut and braced for obliteration. But obliteration never came, instead a warmth spread from where the tips of the woman's fingers touched his forehead all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes.

And suddenly Loki wasn't alone anymore.

He almost toppeled over when he realized what she'd done. Absolution had integrated him into her Host, her completely empty Host.

Life and Damnation had made hundreds of angels. Death had only made two - one for Heaven, one for Hell. But, Absolution hadn't made any.

Loki stood there and reveled in the feeling of Absolution's Grace against his. It wasn't anything like Life's had been, primal and warm and painful to look at straight on. Absolution's Grace was like a cool stream in summer, sparkling and cool. Relaxing into it was like sinking into a comfy couch after a long day and all the tension began to slowly flicker out of Loki's Grace.

And then Bartleby was there. Angry, hurting Bartleby who'd all but given up faith.

For the first time in centuries they were together in Grace as well as in body.

It had taken forever to figure out how to say in words what they had originally been able to convey with just a brush of Grace. Loki was still shitty at it and now he never had to do it ever again, he was ecstatic.

Loki came back to himself to the sight of Bartleby on his knees, clutching at Absolution's waist like his life depended on it.

"Bartleby!" Loki squeaked and went to grab for the other angel. He stopped when Absolution held up a hand and turned inwards once more.

Bartleby was crying or at least the angel equivalent. The overwhelming out rushing of relief and joy and pain that had been held in for far too long. It made the corner of Loki's eyes sting. He brushed his Grace against Bartleby's and the dark haired angel latched onto the sensation, twining their Grace together so closely that they were almost indistinguishable from one another.

Distantly, Loki felt his knees hit the ground and his arms wrapped around Bartleby. They were home and together again for the first time in millennia and that was all that mattered.

Everything else could wait for now.

 

Bethany was sitting in a chair, staring at the demon in horror as he spouted off about his plans when he heard the door to the bar banged open.

The demon fell silent and then he went pale.

"M-my Lady Absolution." He gasped.

As one, the entire contingent of world savers turned to look at the door. Absolution stood there, smiling faintly at them all, one arm slung through Bartleby's proffered elbow, and the other held up in a tiny wave. Loki stood at their back, arms crossed and eyes somewhere between soft and hard.

"Azreal," the woman said with a nod, "it's been a while since I've seen you."

"Who's she?" Bethany asked at a near whisper.

"An aspect of God. Her name is Absolution, she's the second youngest." The apostle whispered back.

"I hate using that word as a proper noun. It sounds so... pretentious." She said and then turned to look at Bartleby. "Why was one of the muses kicked out? I stopped listening to Life's decisions after she didn't listen to me about Lucifer's punishment."

"He refused to pick sides." Bartleby said calmly and smiled, looking at Absolution like she was the sun and stars.

Absolution sighed, visibly irritated, "Really?"

"Yes," Bartleby said with a wry grin, "Damnation said that anyone not willing to fight was a traitor by default."

"Of course she did. She's too thirst for her own good." The goddess said, rolling her eyes. "What's he done since?"

Bartleby turned to look her in the eyes and there was a silent exchange as Absolution's lips go thinner and thinner. "I trust I don't need to say any of that out loud." The angel said at the end of their silent conversation.

"Loki." Absolution said with a snap of her fingers and pointed at Azreal. Loki was suddenly in front of the demon, a giant sword hovering an inch from his chest. "Azeal the Muse, you have been found guilty of murder, genocide, and attempting to start an apocalypse. For those crimes I sentence you to death."

And with that Loki drove the sword through the demon's chest.

Absolution turned to look at the demon's prisoners. "Hello, grandniece. It's good to see one of his nieces after so long. "I had thought you all died off in some crusade or other." She said with a smile. "What's your name, sweaty?"

"Bethany." Bethany told her and turned to look at the apostle. "I thought God was out of commission."

"Life is. She's currently in a mortal form, in a coma. I was stopping there next." Absolution said and took a step forward to kiss the human girl's forehead.

Bartleby made a faint annoyed noise as Loki bounded up to them with a smile stretched across his face and slung an arm around the other angel's shoulders. But they were both smiling and Bartleby visibly relaxed even more.

"Goodbye and good luck." Absolution smiled and she vanished along with the two angels.

 

The old man on the bed opened his eyes to look at the girl standing at the end of it, an angel standing on either side.

"Hello, Life, it's been a long time." Absolution said. "Did you know that one of the celestial beings you cast down tried to start an apocalypse and Metatron tapped one of my nieces to try and stop it? Bartleby and Loki almost died. The universe almost ended."

Life shifted and tried to sit up. 'We need a second coming. Our children-' Life projected.

"No!" Absolution snapped, face contorting into a snarl. "They're your children! Not our children! Not Damnation's children! Not Death's! And certainly not mine! My child died over two thousand years ago with no children of his own! My only concern now is my last remaining niece and my angels! And you've taken her away, too!"

Absolution stopped and took a deep breath as Bartleby lay a hand on her shoulder. "Do you know why there are four of us, Life? Why there is both Damnation and Absolution? why not just Judgment? Three is a powerful number, we are the most powerful being in the universe. Why wouldn't we come in a set of three? It's because you need perspective. to use a human saying, you need the angel and the demon on your shoulder. But you've been ignoring my perspective from almost the instant I came into being."

Life's eyes widen, finally beginning to understand.

"So, I'm leaving." Absolution said, taking a step back and angels wrapping their arms around her waist. "And when this world collapses under the weight of all the evil and darkness that you've been breeding here and you come crawling to me for advice I won't help. You've dug your own grave and now you can lie in it."

"Absolution." Life managed to croak out.

Absolution narrowed her eyes. "It's Judgment, actually. I'm not very forgiving anymore, not after what you did to my son. Do you have any idea how painful crucifixion is?" She said coldly, then cocked her head. "You know I think I know where you went wrong. It was right after you started calling yourself the one true god. That was a bad idea, the power went to your head."

And with that there was the sound of reality tearing and Judgment was gone, her angels following close behind.


End file.
